DJ's Story: Memories and Dreams
by DJ Paynter
Summary: Duncan Jeffery Macleod Jr. has a past full of adventure, pain, and mystery the likes of which can only be pieced together by those whose lives he has touched during this time. Every person leaves behind thier own footprints in the world, good or bad...
1. Memories and Dreams

**DJ's Departure**

Duncan Jeffery Macleod Jr. sat on a dark beach, his legs curled up into his chest as he reflected and looked on the night waves. The Axe-Head ship was docked at the beach of this uninhabited island for the night so everyone could relax without having to worry about sailing until morning. Every other member of the crew was fast asleep in his or her bed, but DJ found he couldn't sleep, and this time it wasn't because of Azu's snoring. He found past memories rushing back to him, he pulled his flute out of his pocket and played a haunting, sad tune to montage his own reflective thoughts.

--

(Flashback)

DJ stared at the sharp object on the counter before him. His new home was empty, as it would always be from now on. It had only been a few weeks since the Marines looking for that Red-Haired pirate captain that had visited their island killed Sirena. The brunette boy sighed as his eyes trailed along the object. It was a short, yet sharp and sleek dagger with a name engraved on it.

__

Duncan Jeffery Macleod

The knife wasn't his however, it belonged to his father whom he had nearly killed years ago. He had found it in the ruins of his old family house on one of his trips back up there recently after Sirena died. "Even after death, you just won't get off my back, will you old man?" He glared at the weapon.

He stood up, knocking the stool over that he was sitting on and walked away from the weapon, turning around and shouting at the dagger like it was his father himself. "Yeah, I failed, so what!? I promised to protect Sirena, all that remained of my mother and I failed at it, what do you want from me old man!?" He shouted, tears streaming down his face as he collapsed onto his hands and knees on the floor. "Why won't you leave me alone!?"

He threw a wooden spoon that was within his reach at the knife, bouncing off the edge of the counter and clattering to the floor. He covered his face in his hands and sobbed loudly. "I… I can't take it!" He cried out, his cheeks soaked with tears. "It's too heavy…! … The burden…"

"I can't take it now that she's gone, I can't take being completely and utterly alone, I can't stand the fact that I can't help anyone!" He screamed, standing up and swinging his arms, knocking a bunch of kitchen utensils off the dining room table. A sharp pain came to his finger and when he looked at his hand he noticed he had knicked it on a kitchen knife and it was now bleeding down into his palm.

"GOD DAMNIT!!" He threw the utensil wherever he could, not caring where it went. He walked back over to the counter, glaring at the knife of his father's. He ran over the blade with his finger, smearing the blood from the cut on his finger onto the cold metal and over the engraving of his father's name.

He quickly grabbed the knife handle and whipped it up to his neck, holding it there for a moment, tears streaming down his face as he held the cold metal to his face. "I… I just can't take it!" He choked out.

He stood there in dead silence for what seemed like an eternity. He eventually pulled the knife back, ready to strike, pulling it in towards himself, fully expecting the sound of his own blood splattering and then for the silence to continue forever.

However, that's not what he heard. Instead he heard the sound of the front door opening and the sound of the dagger clattering to the ground. He looked around, as if seeing his surroundings for the first time. What happened? Who was at the door? Sirena? No… it would never be Sirena again… "Who's there?" He managed to call out through his shock.

He saw the familiar head of dark hair with a blue streak walk through the doorway into the kitchen. Poika, the girl who had inherited the local tavern after her father died, walked in with a basket under her arm. "Oh, so here you are, was just checking in on you. Brought you some apples." She held up the basket. "…What the heck happened here?" She looked around to the utensils and kitchen appliances strewn about on the floor, and do the monogrammed knife at DJ's feet.

"I… I just…" DJ stammered, unable to think of a good excuse. He looked down, shaking his head sadly and quietly.

"YOU FREAKING IDIOT!" He felt her hand come across his cheek as she slapped him hard across the face. "What the hell do you think you're doing, trying something like that!?" She shouted, making him realize she could see right through what had played out a few minutes before.

He sighed and shook his head, his cheek stinging from where she struck him. "I… I can't go on like this…"

"You stupid, stupid jackass!" Poika screamed, glaring up at him in a way to look at his face even though he was hanging his head. "If you do that, then what did she die for!? She died to make sure everyone on this island stayed alive and weren't attacked by the marines, including the pirate captain and including you!"

"She died because of my failure…"

"What were you going to do!? Take out every marine that invaded? That wouldn't help anyone! I can't believe you would be so stupid!"

DJ sighed and looked at his bloody palm again, transfixed on it for a moment as memories of Sirena's death raced back to him. When he mixed his own blood with Sirena's and made a promise to her spirit over her body. A promise that such a thing would never happen again, that no one he cared about would die as long as he could protect them, a promise that he would become strong enough to protect all those who were precious to him. And most of all, a promise to fulfill her dream to create a world where everyone would have the courage to chase their dreams. He clenched his fist, some blood running out between his fingers. "You're right… I can't die yet."

"You're damn right you ca-" Poika was silenced by a determined look from the brunette dreamer.

DJ walked silently to the doorway of the house and trailed his bloody finger across the door to write a message to himself or others to go by whenever they entered the house. His friend read aloud when he was finished. "N-E-V-E-R-F-O-R-G-E-T… Never Forget…" She thought it over for a moment and knew exactly what he was planning. "DJ…"

"I'm leaving this place Poika… this house, this island, I'm going to see the world and leave these memories behind, create new memories and help people so maybe one day I can leave the past behind me. I'm going to change myself, become stronger, smarter, better, and make sure the past doesn't repeat itself. There's a place in the world calling for me, and I can't answer that here… I hope you understand…" He closed his eyes and walked out the door of his former house, leaving his friend in the doorway and never returning.

--

The day came quickly for DJ's departure from Ongaku Island. He had gathered a few of his possessions without returning to the house of his family or the house he had lived with Sirena in. He carried his flute, a gift from his mother, and a katana, a gift from a local merchant for doing some chores for him and his father's knife from the day he almost ended it all as well as a small bag with some memorable trinkets and a change of clothes on his back. He had avoided confronting those memories of his past until he was ready to leave, until now.

The day was foggy and misty, one could hardly see three feet in front of them and the air had a still feeling to it, but for the lone traveler it felt as even though things were standing still now, everything would soon be moving forward. DJ stood in front of his old house, the one where he had met his father years ago and nearly killed him. It was mostly in ruin from years of abandonment but still standing.

The boy took out his katana and swung it quickly across the ground, sending sparks which quickly ignited a piece of dry wreckage. He picked up the piece of wood once it was aflame and held it out to the main structure of the house, it caught on fire as well and soon the whole dwelling was up in flames, smoke and embers rising into the cool foggy morning air. He walked across town and repeated the process on the house that he had raised Sirena in after their mother's death.

Soon twin trails of smoke were visible in the foggy sky as the two houses burned to the ground, DJ continued walking along his path silently, his footsteps against the rocks making the only sound for a long way.

"One must discard the past in order to move to the future" He whispered to himself. "Today I burn down my haunting history and stand on my own feet, stepping forward. Today I destroy my nightmares of the past and focus on my dreams of the future. Today I put my past behind me!" He clenched his teeth as something ahead made him stop in his tracks.

Three figures appeared in the fog, directly in his path. "Who's there!?" He shouted, whipping out his katana and holding it in front of him. As the fog cleared a bit, he quickly realized the people before him weren't human… at least not anymore. "G-Ghosts!?" He stammered, still holding his weapon shakily in front of him, dropping it to the ground soon after. "I-It can't be…"

The figures in front of him appeared to be his mother, father, and Sirena. They looked like them, but appeared to be made out of the same foggy substance that surrounded the whole island. "What the hell are you doing here!?" He addressed the brunette woman, dark-haired girl, and dark-haired man with no answer.

"I told you I'll leave my past behind me today!" He swung his arms in front of him. "I won't let your memories hold me back anymore!" He shouted at the ghosts, but with still no answer.

He sighed and addressed them separately. "Mother, I know I failed to protect you from him." He glared at the ghost of his father. "And perhaps even in some way caused your death, but I plan to protect people like you from now on, the worst crime a man can commit is striking a woman and I plan to make sure it never happens on my watch again!"

He turned to the middle figure, Sirena. "Dearest sister, I failed in my promise to protect you no matter what when mother died. However, I am going to make your dream a reality now and I am going to become so strong that no one precious to me will ever die again! I will become strong enough to protect what I care about, and make sure that no one else will ever die because of me!"

He finally looked off to the side, unable to look the ghost of his father in the face. "Father, I am not like you and I will prove it, I refuse to take your filthy name any longer, mother and Sirena are the only redeeming qualities to such a name. I will prove that I am nothing like you, where you were a coward, I will be brave, while you were angry, I will remain calm, where you were placid, I will be active, where you were abusive, I will cherish and protect!" He swung his arm out to the spirits once more.

"I cannot change what happened in the past, but because of all of you I can now change how I will act in the future! I will not allow my memories to keep me from action anymore, today I put my past behind me. I won't let the ghosts of the past hold me back anymore!!" He roared out, causing the fog around him to disperse and the figures to disappear.

He panted and picked up the katana by his feet, closing his eyes and sheathing it before continuing down the path slowly. "May you all rest in peace…" He whispered. "I'll handle things from here."

--

DJ finally came to his destination, Ongaku Island's one and only dock. It was a small wooden dock that could only hold about three or four ships at once at most. He was quite surprised however when he saw he wasn't alone today, a young woman had decided to join him.

Poika smiled and pointed to the air. "Saw the smoke, I had a feeling it would be today." She giggled softly. "You're so predictable sometimes DJ-kun."

"Thank you for coming Poika…" He smiled softly, still staying somber as he sat down on the small wooden dock, next to a small dingy that served as the only vessel currently docked at the port.

The dark-haired girl smiled warmly and sat down beside him. "I guess I can't come with you, huh?"

"No,"

"It'll be dangerous, won't it?"

"Yup."

"Will we ever see each other again?"

"Maybe."

She smiled and stood up. "What if you die?"

'There is no if, when I die… then that'll be that, won't it?" DJ gave a soft smile. "I'm going to try my hardest to make Sirena's and my dream come true, and if I die, at least I'll die trying, and I'll be able to die with a smile on my face."

"… You sure are simple."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Poika giggled. "It's nothing. Promise not to forget me when you become a big-time adventurer?"

DJ grinned and nodded. "I promise I won't forget you Poika. You're one of my best friends."

"Hey, I gotta question…"

"Shoot."

"How come with all the other girls you always call them –chan or –san or something like that, but with me it's always just Poika?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Well… you see, that's only for girls I have some kind of relation to and…" He stopped, seeing he had already hit thin ice.

"And…?" She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"And well, it's different with you Poika, you're my best friend, you're just like a guy!"

__

WHAM!

Wrong thing to say…

DJ whimpered as he felt the huge bump on his head. "That came out wrong…" Later he would realize that hit made him much more careful about what he said around the fairer sex, making it to the point where he almost never had a slip of the tongue with a lady again.

Once he had recovered, he pulled his father's knife from his bag and put it on the docks, staring at it for a moment.

"Hey… that's the dagger from the other day." His female friend observed, unclenching her hand and looking sympathetic once more.

"Yeah, I've burned my homes here and confronted my past ghosts so I can move forward, but I can't take a momento like this with me and still hope to move on." He lowered the knife to the water, letting the knife hit the waves and sink, getting swept up in the tide. "Let fire and water cleanse the sins of the past, and bring hope of a new beginning."

He stood up and embraced his friend. "I will miss you very much, and I hope we can see each other again. Until then, keep yourself and this island safe for me, okay… Poika-chan?" He smirked slyly and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"DJ-kun…" His female friend blushed and nodded, watching as he set off in his dinghy, looking for the right words to say to him in parting. She struggled as he got further away, realizing this could be the last time she would see him, only managing to shout out one thing before he disappeared into the fog, tears streaming from her face. "Don't get killed!"

She was answered by a hearty laugh through the fog. "You too!"

--

Back on the beach, DJ concluded his flute medley, notes still echoing over the sands and into the water. He saw an object in the water that caught his attention, shaking his head as it appeared almost sword-like in appearance, like a katana, or maybe something smaller like a… "No, it couldn't be…" He shook his head again and sighed.

He found it odd after all his attempts to forget the past, he still found himself reflecting quite often. He whistled the tune from before. "As you walk the beach, never look back on your footprints, but never ignore the impressions they make." He shrugged in answer to himself, feeling the statement accurately portrayed his feelings and memories.

"DJ-kun? What're you doing out here so late? You'll catch a cold…" Dusty had come out into the starry night, wrapped in a blanket to keep warm, hear ears and tail hanging down from the cold breeze.

"Just… thinking…" He answered and sighed, looking from her to the ocean.

"Well you can think inside and you won't get frostbite, come on." She nodded back to the ship.

He smiled and shook his head, standing up and brushing the sand off himself. "What brings you out here if it's so cold anyway?"

She walked towards him a bit more and extended her blanket out to him. "I came out for a midnight snack and hear the music, it was really beautiful, what do you call that song?"

He smiled warmly and came closer, sharing the blanket with her as they walked back to the ship together. "Hmm… how about… 'Memories and Dreams'?"

"That's a nice name…" She yawned, her ears laying back as she did. "So what were you thinking about?"

"Just things here and there.." He smiled warmly, thinking to himself.

'I can't change what happened in the past, but now I have nakama whom I care about and who care about me, they want to see my dreams come true as much as I do theirs. I even have a woman who loves me as I love her, they are my future. When compared to that, the problems of my past don't seem all that important anymore. No matter what happens, I can face anything as long as they are with me, and I will give my life a million times to protect them. My past has helped shape me into who I am, it's worth noting but I can't dwell on it anymore.' He found himself looking into Dusty's eyes as he finished his inner monologue.

"What is it DJ-kun?" She tilted her head in question as she caught him looking at her.

He smiled warmly. "My future it what matters now… and you are my future…" He gave her a tender and loving kiss on the lips. The moon, stars, and waves all sparkling with delight as past, present, and future met in one place for that night so that all may be put to rest.

Come what may, love will survive until the dying day.


	2. The Bladeless Dojo

The Bladeless Dojo

DJ laughed softly to himself, almost immediately as they got into the ship from their beach excursion, Dusty had fallen asleep in his arms. He walked the sleepy fox-girl to the door before picking her up and carrying her back to the rooms, listening to her tired murmuring.

He stood outside the girl's cabin and thought for a moment, muttering to himself as he spoke his thoughts. "If I go in there and try to put her in her own bed… then there's a chance Niri or one of the girls will wake up, think it's something perverted, and beat the living crap out of me…" He looked down to the boy's cabin. "However if I try to put her down in my bed and just stay out here for the night… Azu's in there." He sighed in thought and shook his head.

He almost went for the girl's cabin until he heard a noise outside near the kitchen that told him Azu had fallen asleep next to the refrigerator and was snoring loudly, passed out in a pool of his booze and certain combined other fluids. "Guess that means it's safe to go in then…" He sighed and opened the door to the boy's cabin where, sure enough Azu was gone and the rest of the males were sleeping soundly. He laid Dusty down in his own bed and took a chair from the nearby desk to guard her and continue his reflections.

Quickly finding himself bored and unable to sleep knowing the person he loved was asleep in a strange environment. He rummaged through his belongings, finding various sheet music, notes on instruments, swords, and various poetry sheets he had kept over the years, each with whatever instrument they were played with at the top corner. Among his findings he saw three bounty posters that had been torn and ripped, obviously battle-worn and aged.

One was of a man who looked to be in his early twenties, had curly whitish-blue hair and wore a pair of orange goggles on top of his head as well as a wooden sword at his hip. The other looked much more ordinary, a man dressed in a white kimono and wearing a tight topknot in his black hair, a typical samurai-looking fellow. The final one was a man with long black hair flowing over his shoulders and a white cloth tied around his forehead, a small scar running down the side of his face with a red and white flowered kimono covering his body.

"Heh, good times…" He whispered to himself. "I wonder how they're doing, if they've gotten any stronger…" He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment before drifting almost into a trance.

--

(Flashback: Less than Three Years Ago, Ken Kyji Island)

"Hey you! What'dya think you're doing with that thing?" A man called out to DJ as he walked harmlessly through town.

"Huh? What thing…" The brunett e blinked and looked around and at himself.

"Don't play dumb! That sword on your back!" The man shouted, DJ got a good look at him, he certainly was an odd-looking guy, his hair color didn't look natural, and his hair was a lot curlier than most, and to top it off he had a strange wooden weapon and was wearing goggles for seemingly no reason.

"Who's playing? My sword? I take it with me wherever I go, why?" DJ blinked, still oblivious to what the man was getting at. By now a crowd of onlookers was beginning to form, eager to see what all the shouting was about.

"This town has a sword ban unless you are with the marines or have graduated from one of the two dojos here in town! It's a sign of outright defiance to be carrying a sword in the open like that!" The man shouted louder than ever.

'Geez this guy is loud…' DJ blinked to himself. "And you're much better? Carrying around a bokuto like that?"

"… Shut up!" The man shouted after thinking for a moment. "Well, at least you know your swords, since you're new here I'll give you a warning! The name's Gin, Gin Tama, remember it! I won't have outsiders causing trouble by bringing in illegal weapons so you better ditch the sword or get outta town real fast, ya hear!?"

DJ chuckled to himself. "I hear, real fast is kinda my specialty, so I'll be sure and not cause any trouble. Although I'm afraid I can't abandon my sword, I still have need for it."

"Understood…" Gin turned around, a few of his friends following him as the crowd began to disperse. "Just be careful and leave quick. I don't want any trouble stirred up here."

DJ nodded and watched Gin leave, sighing in relief that he hadn't caused any trouble for no reason. He loved fighting as much as the next guy, but there was really no reason to fight with someone for such a silly reason as carrying a sword.

"Guess I better get outta here then…" He looked down at his stomach, which was now growling. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to grab something to go though." He smiled goofily and continued to look for a restaurant or tavern, which with his super speed it only took a few seconds. "Looks like as good a place as any." He looked around him at the many different buildings, the town of Ken Kyji had. Many looked to be old style paper-and-mat houses while other more recent ones were made of cement and bricks like normal. The place looked like it was going through a revolutionary change that was changing their culture from old fashioned to modern that was only halfway done.

He looked up at the sign that said "Beer and Food", it was one of the handful of cement buildings within eyesight. He walked into the dark tavern and was immediately glared daggers at by nearly every member of the local for introducing light into their dank and smoggy environment. "Sorry fellas" He rubbed the back of his head and closed the door, nearly choking on the smell of smoke and alcohol, he couldn't be sure but he could have sworn someone had ripped one by him too and that wasn't helping.

He ordered his meal and drink, which was one of the rare times that he ever ordered alcohol because of what had happened with his father. He sat down at one of the table, none of them were empty, so he picked one with the person who looked least intimidating, a man in a small reed hat covering the top half of his face and wearing a white kimono.

"Hey there" DJ waved friendily.

"Hello" The stranger shot back in a rushed voice.

He blinked at the man's curtness towards him, everyone in this town seemed to be some kind of nut job, or at least not the friendliest of folks. This person at least didn't want to fight and wasn't glaring at him, so he decided to see if he could get some answers.

"Hey buddy, can you tell me what's with the sword ban on this town?"

"The marines and the government of Ken Kyji decided that to prevent people from recklessly carrying swords wherever they go and spreading violence, that they must learn to use them the right way by graduating from one of the two local dojos."

"But they can carry around any other weapon? Isn't that kind of pointless?" DJ asked.

"Yes, very. The government and the marines are very crooked that way. They take bribes from people who want to coast through the schools while pretending to have the island's best interests at heart… Plus since there are few swordsmen in this town, they encounter little resistance in their dominating stranglehold over the town's citizens."

"Damn Marines… nothing but trouble and death wherever they go." DJ clenched his fists, remembering his own marine troubles back home. "What about these two dojos? Are they any different or is it just two locations? And where are they?"

"They're just across the river from each other, but they're worlds apart in their teachings." The stranger started, just barely looking at DJ under the brim of his reed hat. "The first is the Bato dojo, led by Kenichi Suskohein, an evil little man who has deals with the marines and takes a tuition from his students to let them have swords just through paying, giving the government a percentage of course. When he does actually teach people, he uses a very aggressive and destructive style that puts little value on human life. The second is called the Bladeless Dojo, because only three people have ever graduated from it, and they don't use traditional swords. There aren't as many students there, as only those to cheap or honorable to go to Bato's Dojo attend there."

"Non-traditional swords, huh?" DJ bit his thumb in thought, remembering the curly-haired man with a bokuto in the town square.

"Yes, one uses a sword with a flatter and more rectangular blade than a normal katana, the other uses a bokuto, and the last one is the dojo master, I'm not at liberty to tell you what kind of sword he uses…"

"Ah, so Mr. Gin Tama is one of the graduates from the Bladeless Dojo after all…" The boy muttered to himself.

The man in the hat laughed softly and nodded. "Yes, he makes himself sort of like a vigilante protector of the town out of courtesy for the dojo master training him to be able to use a sword. He has a way of making himself known to newcomers, especially those who are carrying swords against the law like yourself."

"Uh… yeah, I was just on my way out, don't worry I won't cause any trouble." DJ looked up to the counter to see if his drink and food were coming yet. "Speaking of which, I don't even know your name yet stranger, I'm DJ Macleod, who're you?"

The man paused for a second, lifting his reed hat all the way up and off his head to reveal he had a serious looking face and a tight topknot on the top of his head with just a bit of stubble in between his eyebrows. "They call me Jack… but you may call me… Jack."

"Nice to meet you Jack-san, thanks for all the info." He watched as an attractive woman with dark red hair brought his food. "Hey Jack, this one of your samurai buddies from out of town?" She said with a small smirk and a nod.

"No" Jack took a small sip from the teacup in front of him while barely looking at the woman. "We just met a few minutes ago and…" Jack stopped mid-sentence as DJ downed the drink and food that the waitress had brought just moments before, finishing them off in seconds.

The waitress also blinked. "Wow, he's fast…"

"Indeed." Jack nodded.

The waitress extended her hand. "I'm Karen, let me know if you need anything else."

DJ smiled, already pink-faced from the small drink he'd had. "I'm DJ," He slurred, shakily shaking her hand.

"He's drunk after that little bit?" Karen watched him, brow raised.

"Judging by the speed at which he ate, I'd say he has a low tolerance to alcohol and something speeding up his metabolism, bad combination…" Jack took another sip.

"Tanks for the food gthuys." DJ slurred again and wobbled to his feet, taking a few steps forward. "I better geth out of here…" He took another step, falling flat on his face and into someone else's table, breaking it in half.

"Oh my, hope he has enough money to pay for that…" Karen put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"I think that's the least of his problems at this point…" Jack pointed to the person sitting at the table that DJ just broke.

Sitting there was a very irritated-looking Gin Tama, who was looking back and forth between the collapsed DJ and his own food, an ice cream sundae which was now splattered all over the floor.

"Oh no, he's interrupted Gin-sama's sweets time…" Karen sighed hopelessly.

DJ stood up shakily, only to be thrown across the floor, almost out the door by the bokuto-wielding, white haired man. He quickly sobered up and stood up, shaking his head, still woozy from the drink.

"You son of a bitch, not only did you not get out when I told you to, because of you, my yummy chocolate sundae… WAS SPILLED ON THE FLOOR!!" He roared, smacking the musician-swordsman across the face and into a wall with his wooden sword. "The doctors say my blood sugar's too high, so I only get one chocolate sundae a week, one! And you ruined it!" Gin clutched his bokuto in a rage.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" Karen looked worriedly to the young man who had just been flung through a wall.

"It isn't wise to get in Gin-sempai's way when he hasn't had any sugar…" Jack continued sipping his drink nonchalantly.

DJ pulled his head out of the wall, blood running down the side of his face from the blunt force of the wooden sword. "Ow, and I thought I already had a killer headache from the hangover…"

"Hmm, you're still conscious, that's something kid, but you won't be for long! Sugar Rush-" Gin started, but this time the speedy swordsman was ready for him, dashing out of the way of his attack and in the blink of an eye was on top of a table behind Gin, amazing all the bar patrons who were watching the fight.

"Hmm, we were right, he is fast…" Jack observed, keeping his eyes on the newcomer.

"What the…?" Gin growled and turned around. "Bastard! Quit pussy-footing around and fight like a man!" The goggles-wearing man showed of his own impressive speed and appeared next to the table DJ was on, swinging and smashing it to bits.

As fast as he was, DJ was faster and jumped off the table, landing as nimbly as a cat back onto the floor. "You're fast, but you're nothing compared to me, you might as well be in slow-motion." He grinned confidently before staring at the table. 'He broke wood… with wood! That's really something; he's a bit faster than normal and strong as hell… I've got a good fight on my hands…' He stared at the bokuto, amazed that it could break something of equal or greater toughness than itself.

Gin smirked. "Impressed? Real swordsmen can break things harder than their swords, and some can even cut steel and harder objects, so using my bokuto, I can smash things that are harder than the wood itself!" He smashed the sword into the cement wall, leaving a decent sized crack in it.

"Oh shit…" DJ mumbled to himself.

"You better pay for that!" Karen shouted.

While DJ was still in awe about the wall, Gin took the opportunity to rush him and get within a few feet of him. "Keep your eyes on the fight boy!" Jack's voice called out to him.

"Sugar Rush… SLAMMER!" Gin swung his bokuto like a bat, hitting DJ square in the side of his head and sending him flying into the side of the bar, breaking even more of it much to Karen's anger.

DJ groaned, feeling more blood run over his eyes and head. "I think you overdid it Gin-semapi…" Jack sighed, shaking his head as he, Karen, and Gin all looked down on him before everything went black.

--

**Well there's that, a new start to one of DJ's solo adventures! As you can see he made a few rookie mistakes here, so this is before a lot of his more formal training. So needless to say he fights a lot better in the CotA saga, plus he's not hung over in there XD PS: Gin Tama is based on Gin Sakata, from the anime Gintama, while Jack is based on Jack from the American anime, Samurai Jack, they are technically not mine because of this but I may have more of them later one in later fics. On to the preview!**

**Karen: Well after that thrashing Gin gave you, we figured this is the least we could do…**

**Gin: Hmph, whatever…**

**??: Would you like to be a student here as well? I could teach you much and make you much stronger…**

**DJ: …Aren't there supposed to be Seven Samurai? **

**Meet the Samurai**

**??: Welcome to the Bladeless Dojo, DJ Macleod **


	3. Meet the Samurai

Meet the Samurai

DJ awoke suddenly with a splitting headache and a damp feeling on his forehead. "Ow… what the heck hit me?" He groaned, pulling the wet cloth off his head and sitting up, looking around. He was in an unfamiliar mat and paper made room with a bucket by his small sheet on the floor where he lay, other than that the room was furniture-less. "Better question… where the hell am I?" He thought for a moment before something clicked.

"That's right, I got into a fight with that bokuto-baka in the bar, he must have knocked me out. That answers one question, but now where am I?" He was answered by the sound of paper sliding back in the doorway to reveal the red-haired woman from the bar, Karen, carrying a fresh bucket of water.

"Oh, you're awake." She gave a faint smile and set the bucket beside the other one. "Gin-sama hit you pretty hard, most people who're hit with his Sugar Rush Slammer are out for a full day, you were only out of it for a few hours."

"Grrr… if I ever see that bastard I'll…"

"You'll what?" The paper door sliding back interrupted him again, revealing Gin standing in the doorway, a lollipop halfway in his mouth.

"Ack! Bokuto-bastard…" DJ looked around for his katana but came up empty handed.

"Hmph, whatever… Your weapon is in the training room if you're still looking for a fight, but I've had my sugar so I'm feeling better." He waved lazily and turned around again.

"What the heck happened?" The speedy swordsman turned back to Karen, looking very puzzled at what just happened.

"Gin-sama gets angry when his sugar-time is ruined, so that's why he beat you up."

"It was a lucky shot!" DJ protested.

"We all felt bad to just leave you there," The waitress continued. "So we took you here to let you rest up. After the thrashing that Gin gave you, it was the least we could do."

"So where exactly is 'here'?" The young swordsman looked around again.

"The Bladeless Dojo. I'm sure Jack-san told you that Gin-sama was the first student ever to graduate from this training dojo, what he didn't tell you is that he is the second."

"Wow… really? Hmm, thought that guy looked sort of mysterious. So he's the one who uses that rectangular blade that he was telling me about. What about you Karen-dono? Are you a student here too?"

"No, I'm not a sword person, I prefer whips." She sighed. "Go ahead, get it out of your system."

"Get what?"

"The perverted jokes about me and whips, Every guy says something about that when I tell them, Gin-sama went on for two hours when I told him."

"I'm not exactly… like other guys." DJ stood up and smiled. "I don't think I could intentionally come up with a perverted joke if I tried."

"Heh, well that's odd, oh well, Sakata-sensei said he wanted to meet you when you woke up, maybe we should go see him."

"Sakata-sensei?"

"He's the dojo master of the Bladeless Dojo. He trained Gin-sama and Jack-san as well as many other dropout students." Karen stood up and walked to the doorway. "Follow me."

--

DJ followed Karen to another nearly empty room where Jack and Gin were knelt before another man who was sitting with his legs crossed in a meditation position. "So, that's Sakata…" He whispered to himself as he looked around at the three sitting samurai. "Aren't there supposed to be seven samurai?" He blinked, earning a quiet laugh from Karen.

The other two turned to look as Karen and DJ walked into the room and took a seat on the floor. Sakata opened his eyes and slowly raised his head, revealing a white cloth tied around his forehead, black hair that ran past his shoulders, and a thin scar that ran from his left cheek down to his chin. DJ felt a chill run down his spine as the master's calm blue eyes set on him, a gentle smile playing across his face. "So you're the one who fought Gin in the bar, I heard you're fairly quick and know your swords." He stood up slowly and walked towards where the musician was sitting. Every step he took seemed to scream experience, he moved very authoritatively and deliberately, as if he was a man much older than his age, and that stare…

"Y-Yes sensei…" DJ stuttered and bowed his head with respect, this man seemed to command it with his very aura.

"There's no reason to be afraid young one. You're a welcome guest here." Sakata's smile cane to his face again.

That last part set him off. "I'm not young!" He protested feebly.

"In the scheme of things, you are very young." He chuckled softly, a warm and gentle laugh for a similar type of person. "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, even become a student, we can train you and make you much stronger, and we are in need of students, Jack and Gin are the only ones remaining. Please, take a look around, Karen will show you, think of this as a sanctuary for the time being."

"Thank you sensei." DJ bowed his head again and stood quietly, following Karen out of the room again.

--

"Well, you've seen the bedrooms, kitchen, training rooms, I guess this is the only thing left to show." Karen said a short time later, stopping out front of the wooden dojo that overlooked a cliff on the ocean. She pointed to a long piece of paper that hung beside the side of the entrance.

DJ stared at it for a long time. The piece of paper had the characters for "Bladeless Dojo" written on it, as well as a sword with a line scratched through the blade and a pirate-like skull at the bottom. "What is it?" He finally asked.

"This is the most important part of a dojo, this is the marquee for the Bladeless Dojo." Karen smiled broadly and stared at it as well.

"Marquee? What's it do?"

"A marquee is a sign of pride for a dojo, it's like a jolly roger on a pirate ship, it symbolizes the unity and dreams of all those who serve under it, and also the strength of the dojo. If someone issues a challenge to the dojo and manages to defeat the dojo's leaders, they may take that dojo's marquee, a dojo without a marquee is a very shameful thing to have."

"So… if someone takes their marquee, a dojo is shamed because they've been defeated in battle?" DJ blinked.

"Exactly, so far Sakata-sensei has defended the dojo and its marquee very well, even if there aren't many who are a part of it."

"I see… I saw that a lot of the rooms on the tour were empty, and Sakata-sensei said Gin and Jack were the only people left in the dojo, why is that if he's such a good teacher?"

"Many of the students that were here defected to Bato's dojo not too long ago, since they threatened to attack the dojo to get back at my grandfather…"

"Why would they do that? What's your grandfather got to do with anything?"

"He funds the dojo and has some old gambling debts to Kenichi Suskohein, the dojo master of Bato's Dojo. So they want to destroy the Bladeless Dojo to get back at him…" Karen was obviously having trouble containing her anger while addressing the rival dojo.

"I see… the people here are a proud people, people who are of the sword and having problems with other corrupted people…" DJ kept his eyes on the marquee that was flapping in the wind. "Come on, let's go back, I have something I would like to discuss with Sakata-sensei…"

--

The two returned to the training room where Jack and Gin were sparring while Sakata observed them. The two stopped as they entered, sheathing their swords and bokuto and sat down again. "Ah, good, you're back, did you enjoy the tour?" Sakata smiled softly.

"I did, and I've made my decision." DJ bowed his head as he walked up to the dojo master. "I have a dream that I am very determined to accomplish, I promised my sister's spirit that I would become strong enough to protect those I care about, help those that needed my help, and inspire others to follow their dreams. I will make this dream into a reality, no matter what it takes, and if I can get some training in along the way and make some comrades, then all the better." He grinned broadly. "I want to become a member of the Bladeless Dojo."

"Excellent." Sakata smiled brightly as well and clapped his hands, standing up, a little more lively than before. "Welcome to the Bladeless Dojo, DJ Macleod."

--

After a small celebration, Sakata decided to jump right into DJ's training, while Karen and Jack gathered supplies and did some work around the town, Gin, Sakata, and DJ stood around the training room, their weapons on their hips and backs. "Alright DJ-kun, this is a standard awareness training that I go into when I'm training myself in my personal style called 'The Blind Sword'." He took off his white cloth and wrapped it around DJ's head, covering his eyes. Now, try to block the attacks as they come at you based on sound and feel alone. You'll find with your eyesight gone, your other senses will become stronger, awareness with limited sight is a very important quality for a swordsman."

"Can you see anything?" Gin asked, hefting his bokuto over his shoulder.

"No," DJ felt around, unable to see anything at all. "Well, how am I supposed to defend myself if I can't see?"

"Just focus on everything around you, quiet your mind and you should be able to see and dodge Gin's attacks. Since his bokuto won't do as much damage as a sword if he should hold back and it won't cut you so…" He was cut off as DJ screamed loudly in pain.

"What the hell happened!?" The speedy swordsman whimpered as he fell to the ground, curling up, feeling an intense pain in his groin.

"Oh, Gin hit you in the balls, you gotta focus man." Sakata laughed softly.

"Dude! He wasn't even done talking yet! Gin you bastard!" DJ growled, holding himself and slowly standing up.

As the lesson continued, DJ's progress slowly increased, he was soon able to sense things around him without seeing them, even able to seemingly feel Gin's presence as he attacked.

"Not bad Macleod, you're starting to get it!" Gin grinned as DJ dodged yet another blow from his bokuto.

"Yeah, I like using my eyes better, but I feel like I have a sixth sense now, sort of like I can predict when something bad is coming." The speedy musician smirked as he backed out of the way.

"Good." Sakata clapped his hands, signaling them to stop. "That's necessary to be a good swordsman, a sort of intuition to sense other swordsman and when they attack, it will help you a lot in dodging and avoiding sneak attacks. Even with your eyes uncovered, this sense should become subconscious to you as a swordsman; all serious swordsmen have this on some level. That's enough training for today, get some rest you two," He smiled into the setting sun through the open window.

--

"Hey, moocher." Karen tossed DJ a bag. "You any good with kids?"

"Don't call me a moocher." He grumbled, picking up the bag, "Yeah, I'm great with kids." He chuckled, reminiscing to himself.

_-Flashback-_

_**(DJM: Wait, a flashback inside a flashback? That makes no sense!**_

_**AN: No, it's like the play within a play in Hamlet.  
DJM: Hamwhat? I want some ham… give me some damn ham!**_

_**AN: Nevermind, just enjoy it, that goes for you too, reader)**_

_"Big brother!" A five-year-old Sirena called, giggling as she ran into the pub where Eleven-year-old DJ and Poika were conversing. "I gots two fishes!" She laughed, holding up her recent catch. _

_"Nice job!" DJ laughed, looking over the fish. "Where'd you catch these?"_

Sirena looked to the side. "Lake Dangerous…"

"Lake Dangerous!? But that place is… well, dangerous!"

_"But I wash careful…" Sirena pouted._

"We told you not to go to Lake Dangerous! You could have been hurt!" Poika glared at the little girl. 

_DJ crouched beside her and smiled warmly. "I appreciate the help with gathering food, but there are big fishies there that love to gobble up cute little girls like you, got that sis?"_

_"Okays…" Sirena kicked the ground softly. "I got in 'twouble…" _

_"Yesh yoo did…" DJ chuckled. _

_"DJ! Use proper grammar when talking to Sirena! How will she learn if we don't speak right to her?"_

"Eep! I got in 'twouble…" DJ mimicked Sirena's kick. 

_The little girl giggled and nodded. "Yesh yoo did."_

_--_

"Why do you ask?" DJ blinked, snapping out of his memories of his sister before he got too upset about what happened.

"The dojo watches some of the town's kids in the evenings so the parents can have time alone or just get some work done, brings in a bit of money and does a little community service, but everyone else is busy. So we figured, why not ask the moocher?"

"I AM NOT A MOOCHER!" DJ growled. "But I don't see why not, I'm sure I can think of something to entertain the kiddies." He grinned.

"Good, because they're already here." Karen pointed to the stream of ankle-biters already rushing into the training room.

"ACK!" DJ blinked in surprise as the kids tugged at his clothes and weapons, he was still sore from training and already felt the pain from his muscles jerking to alert.

One of the kids pulled at his katana. "Hey Mister! Are you a samurai too? Do you have cool sword moves and adventures you can tell us about?"

"Have fun!" Karen ran out of the room before DJ could object. After a few minutes of tugging and eager questions, the swordsman let out a loud whistle.

"Alright kiddies! I got a treat for you all, but you can only get it if you line up quietly and sit down, got it?"

Like ants in a colony, the children rushed into line and sat on the floor, eager for their treat. "Good," DJ pulled out his flute and spun it around, putting his lips to it and playing a soft melody, the kids sat quietly, watching and blinking as the song continued before coming to a stop.

"Um… mister? … That song sucked." One of the kids raised their hands.

DJ facefaulted. "Everyone's a critic… and where does a kid get off using the word sucked?" He sighed. "Alright, how about something we can all sing and dance to then?" He sped off, returning a second (literally) later, holding a guitar from god knows where. "Alright, here's a song I learned from some friends of mine who came to my island a long time ago, they taught me a lot of fun songs and told me some great stories." DJ grinned, remembering the time he spent with the Red-Haired pirates.

He strummed on his guitar lightly, starting to sing. "You can't stop me now, I'm always going… A to Z, I run without stopping. Sometimes I worry I'm not going to make it, but I know that it's just a little farther. The sea is right before us and our cares are behind us. So, let's glance to the sky, what will we find? Come with me, follow the shining sun, watch the horizon, the journey's just begun…" He suddenly picked up the beat with his fingers while singing louder, the kids danced and watched him play.

"I! Will never treat you bad! Even when we fail, It's alright we still can't give up now!  
Cause you and I both know, through every high and low,we sail towards tomorrow. So smile! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends! Come back to your friends, yeah!" DJ finished, playing the last note with all the children laughing and dancing. They were all having such a good time that they didn't notice Sakata standing by the door, shaking his head and smiling before he walked away.

--

DJ continued to entertain the children with songs and dances, both on the guitar and on his flute. He shared some of his poetry and told of some of his other journeys, of the pirates he met, of the marines, and of the lovely friendships he had seen others make. He even shared some of the stories that the Red-Haired pirates told him during their stay on Ongaku island. It was soon late and the children wore themselves out dancing and playing and listening, passing out wherever they fell on the dojo floor.

"Wow, nice job." Karen smirked, impressed at how he had handled the children. "You're good at this, you'll make a good father some day." He laughed.

DJ laughed loudly and shook his head. "I'd have to find someone who would put up with me first, you know what kind of woman that would have to be?"

"Clinically insane?"

The swordsman laughed and shook his head, watching the children stir slightly from the noise, motioning for Karen to follow him outside so they wouldn't disturb them. They both walked out the back door of the dojo and sat on the cliff overlooking the ocean, looking at the starry sky.

"Why are you the way you are? You seem so determined to accomplish this promise of yours to your sister, yet you do anything a woman says." She smirked, observing his behavior earlier during the chores and training earlier in the day when she passed by, either he was calm or tired now since he wasn't being absolutely servile. "If you ever run into a woman swordsman, you're dead, you know that, right?"

He laughed softly and shook his head. "I'll find a way, don't worry. I like to think I've even accomplished some part of that dream tonight, even just in inspiring those kids a little to follow whatever dreams they may have. What about you? Do you have any dreams?"

"Not really a dream per se, but I do want to repay my grandfather for all he's done for me, he took me in when my parents died a few years ago…" She choked up, obviously having a difficult time remembering the experience.

"I'm so sorry…" DJ looked down, remembering how real that pain was and still was for him. "It's very difficult losing a family member, I know… but you can't dwell on that, you have to move on and make your life better because of it, make sure that you have something to shoot for afterwards, a future to look forward to."

Karen was silent for a long time after that. "…The stars are beautiful tonight." She finally said, changing the subject.

"Indeed, stars are a lot like people in my opinion." He smiled.

"What? You think people are beautiful?" The red-haired bartender watched him closely.

"Not always, but sometimes I feel like a star, just a twinkle in the dark, but when stars make connections with each other, like friendships among people, they make shapes that are remembered and seen for a long way."

"Constellations." She smiled and looked back to the sky. "Do you know any constellations?"

"I know a few." He pointed to a grouping of stars. "Right there's the sword, it's a grouping of five stars that make a sword shape like a katana."

"What about that one?" She pointed to a large group of stars.

"That… that's the axe, a grouping of twelve stars, six in the blade, four in the hilt, and two in the handle, it's one of the biggest constellations out there."

"I see…" She sighed and shook her head. "Do you think that it's possible to change the way the stars lay? To change the heavens? Do you think that a single person would be able to change the world?"

DJ thought for a moment before standing up and walking to the dojo door. "Goodnight Karen-dono…" He sighed and went off to bed, leaving the girl confused about what she said.

_It has to be… it has to be possible for a single person to change the whole world, to inspire everyone to their dreams, to be able to protect those whom he is close to. In my case, it has to be true, for Sirena's sake!_

--

**Well, there's DJ's first day at the Bladeless Dojo done, hope it wasn't too blah, but I have more plot and character progression coming up next! By the way, Sakata the dojo master is based off Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin. I'll post profiles for the three samurai later on DA. On to the preview!**

**Sakata: I have another type of training for you… **

**Gin: Dang Sakata-sensei, you went a little rough on him, didn't you?**

Sakata: You may not like what you see…

**Spirit Quest**

**Jack: Something terrible has happened! **


	4. Spirit Quest

**Don't own One Piece or any of the characters these OCs are based on**

**Spirit Quest**

DJ continued to entertain the children of Ken Kyji Island in addition to his training for a few weeks. He got closer to his fellow students under Sakata and enjoyed his job of taking care of the young ones. One day he decided to tell a special story that was close to his heart.

"Wealth, fame, power. Gold Roger, the Pirate King attained this and everything else the world had to offer and his dying words drove countless souls to the seas." The storyteller turned around adorning a long, fake mustache and a red jacket for his imitation.

"You want my treasure?" He said in a gruffer voice than normal. "You can have it, I left everything I gathered together in one place, now you just have to find it."

He took off his props before continuing his narration of the story. "These words lured men to the Grand Line, in pursuit of dreams greater than they ever dare to imagine. This is the time known as the Great Pirate Era!" He finished and took his bows from the applauding children. "There's a song that goes with that I think… but I can't remember it at the moment, sorry kids." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. He watched the children run around excitedly.

"Oh boy! I'm gonna be a pirate when I grow up and find Roger's treasure!" One boy proudly announced.

"No way!" One of the girls stuck her tongue out at him. "You can't even leave your house after dark!"

DJ laughed at their antics and sent them off to play pirate outside. _'I wonder if Roger knew just how many people would be affected by his dying words. Makes you wonder if he did it to spite the World Government for catching him, they get rid of one big pirate, and from him millions of pirate dreamers come forth.' _He chuckled and shook his head, noticing Gin, Sakata, and Jack had entered the room while he was thinking.

"So, you're a pirate supporter eh?" Gin said with a grin. "Shoulda known someone like you would buy into all that shit."

"I may not be an 'official' pirate, and certainly not captain material, but I do consider myself a pirate in spirit." He grinned broadly. "Just a guy trying to make my way in the world."

"I see… well there is a reason we're here." Sakata smirked gently.

DJ blinked. "Why's that?"

"We thought you could ask us a few questions and get to know your dojo-mates better."

"Cheap Exposition!"

"What?" Everyone looked at Gin, who had just shouted quite randomly.

The bokuto-wielder laughed. "Nothing, I'm just shouting out literary themes that pertain to the moment. God I hope nothing happens to Karen tonight."

"What?"

"Foreshadowing, anywho on to the questions!"

"Alright Gin, why don't you go first then?" Sakata and Jack sat down while Gin sat facing where DJ was.

"Alright… lets see… why do you use a bokuto as opposed to a regular sword which could do more damage?" The musician asked curiously.

"Hmph, is that all?" Gin unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth before answering. "It's because this bokuto was given to me by someone very important to me, and I swore I wouldn't use a real sword until I could defeat them. I wouldn't use the word dream, but defeating that person is my ambition."

"Who is it?"

"Nonya"

"Nonya?"

"Nonya business."

"Okay, what island does Mr. Business live on?" DJ asked thickly.

Gin facefaulted. "God you're dumb…"

_'That's my own business…' _Gin thought to himself.

_Flashback, yes another one_

_"Here Gin." The older black-haired man handed him a pole-shaped object wrapped in wrapping paper "Happy Birthday, hard to believe you're already eleven." **(Gin: More Cheap Exposition!) **_

_The boy Gin quickly unwrapped the present to find a wooden sword within the paper. He looked up at the black-haired man who had a kind smile on his face. "Thank you so much!"_

_"I know you wanted to be a real samurai, but you're still a little young, and honestly with your hyper ness and attitude problem I wouldn't trust you with a sword. I'll give you a real one when you grow up a little." He chuckled and ruffled the boy's silver hair. _

_"Aww, when will I be grown up enough?" Gin asked, fixing his hair back to its curly state._

_"How about if you beat me in a sword battle with that bokuto, I'll give you my own sword. _

_"Really!? Thank you…" he looked up at the man. "Sakata-san!" _

_--_

_A few years later, Gin and Sakata sat on the rooftops of Ken Kyji Island, reflecting over their journeys. "Gin, I want to found a dojo, I want to train people in a manner so that they can use swords to give life instead of using swords only for killing."_

_"Then do it Sakata-san! I'll stand by you the whole time, like I always have!" The teenage Gin shouted. "Please allow me the honor of being you your first student, please let me call you Sakata-sensei!" _

_End Flashback_

_'And a little while after that, we got some more students, and Jack came along with them, of course the two of us are the only ones he fully trained, but I like to think some of Sakata-sensei's message got out.' _

"Well, sometimes people name their swords, does your bokuto have a name?" DJ blinked as Gin seemingly stared off into space.

"Hoshikudaki, the Star Destroyer. " Gin replied, snapping out of his flashback. "Anyway, I'm tired of answering questions, Jack, you're up." Gin went back to sit by Sakata and Jack came forward to be questioned next.

"Alright then, Gin-sempai told me about his dream, what's yours Jack-sempai?"

"There's an evil and very powerful warlord that rules my hometown in the Grand Line, I wish to become strong enough under Sakata-sensei to return to my home and banish that evil from its lands. Until I do, I cannot stand to face my ancestor's graves…"

"I see…" DJ's eyes saddened with understanding. "Sakata-sensei? You next." He said quietly.

Sakata came forward last. "What's your dream then?" DJ asked.

The master smiled gently. "My dream is to spread the message of life-giving swords to the people of the world, and to ensure that the person who succeeds Hawkeye Mihawk as the worlds greatest swordsman is someone who is kind, determined and understands that swords are a tool for protection and dreams, not just another weapon for killing and taking life. In this world of pirate dreamers, it is bound that he will be defeated some time in the not too distant future, I just want to be sure that the person who will inspire generations of swordsmen to come is a good and honorable role-model who follows the codes of Bushido and Swords that give life."

DJ nodded softly. "Tell me a little more about yourself then."

"Well I was born in the Wano Country of the New World, the second half of the Grand Line. I lived and trained there until I was about eight, and then eventually traveled out across the Red Line, the divider of the line, and eventually found my way to Ken Kyji, where I found Gin, and traveled around the four great seas for a while with him, learning all I could about swordsmanship. We did that for about seven years, then I founded this dojo around ten years ago and began to train myself and others with what I had learned. Gin and Jack are by far my best students."

"Wait… eight plus seven plus ten… plus…" DJ counted on his fingers. "How old are you exactly Sakata-sensei!?"

"Hmmm… how old indeed." Sakata put a finger to his lips in thought. "I really can't remember." He laughed.

"YOU CAN'T REMEMBER HOW OLD YOU ARE!?" DJ facefaulted.

_'Come to think of it, he really doesn't look like he's aged a day since I met him… He looks the same as he did when he gave me Hoshikudaki.' _Gin mused to himself. "You truly are an enigma Sakata-sensei." He muttered.

"You can't possibly be any older then thirty-something, I mean look at you!" DJ examined his sensei, trying to predict his age.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sakata laughed again. "Anyway, DJ, I have another type of training for you, follow me." The dojo master stood up and began to walk out of the room, forcing DJ to follow quickly.

--

The young swordsman followed Sakata into a dark room he hadn't been in before, smoke of all different colors hazed the air, making it hard to see clearly. "What is this? Your weed room?" The student asked, earning him a small bonk from his teacher.

"This is my personal meditation chamber, the many different types of incense and herbs offer medicinal properties and even deepen the meditative visions."

"So… it is a weed room?" DJ yelped as he was bonked again.

"Sit down and take deep breaths." Sakata crossed his legs and sat on the floor, lighting a stick of incense that looked different from the others and let off an odd rainbow-colored smoke.

DJ did as he was told and got a lungful of the odd gas, coughing and wheezing as he did. "What is this stuff going to do Sakata-sensei?"

"It will help you bring peace to your mind, and quiet your inner demons, you may not like what you see, but know that your personality is not written in stone, and only you choose who you are." The master waved the incense in the air, making small rainbow circles.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" DJ woozily looked up at Sakata, but when he met the master's eyes, he saw something in them that he had never seen before.

Sakata's normal calm blue eyes were gone, they seemed fierce and with a look of determination in them, something that said. 'Blink funny and you'll die.' DJ struggled under his gaze and the smoke combination, eventually passing out on his back.

Gin heard the crash and walked calmly into the room. "Dang Sakata-sensei, you went a little rough on him, didn't you? You didn't have to use your spirit energy on him… The smoke in here would've knocked him out soon enough."

"His resistance was too high, I couldn't take the chance he would still be partially awake for his journey. Besides, my energy isn't enough to hurt anyone, there are those who have a lot more than I do, I have to completely focus on a single unsuspecting person to knock them out, in spirit terms that's pathetic."

"Still," Gin looked to the unconscious DJ. "I hope he'll be alright, god knows what's in that head of his…"

--

DJ looked around, but he seemed to be in a black abyss. "Hello?" He called out, his cry echoing through the blackness.

"Teehee! You're getting closer! Come this way!" A childish voice called out to him.

"That voice… it can't be!" DJ ran towards the sound as best he could, his devil fruit ability unable to aid him for some reason, but then again in this darkness he couldn't tell if he was actually standing on anything or just "swimming" through the abyss. When he finally found the source, he was astonished at what he saw.

There spirits were cloaked in shadow, one seemed to be a little girl, the other an adult man, and the third one some kind of large animal. He could make out the first, but he was barely able to speak with tears running down his face. "Sirena! Is it really you?"

"Nope." The ghost of Sirena giggled. "I'm just the embodiment of your past, I'm all in your noodle!" She giggled, floating up to him through the darkness and knocking on his forehead like a door.

"Ow… if you're all in my 'noodle' then why did that hurt?"

"Because your noodle is weird."

"Okay… freaky hallucinations and ghosts, but I left my past behind me back on Ongaku! Why are you here?"

"Well yeah, my speech is gonna be kinda short, but blahblahblah, just because you left your past behind you doesn't mean you can escape it, you have to use your past pain to strive towards the future, and blah I'm done." She giggled.

"Gotcha, what's next." He laughed, even if it was just a ghost from his memories, his sister always made him smile, and he understood the lesson that he could leave his past behind him and keep it in the past, but he could also never forget it.

"I am…" The male voice said and stepped out of the shadows.

DJ's eyes widened before narrowing in hatred, reaching for a katana that wasn't there. "Father! What're you doing here!?"

"I am the ghost of your present." His father's cold brown eyes stared into his own, calmly and easily piercing his very soul.

"B-But why? You're in my past!"

"True, but as it presently is… you're just like me, you will be as I was."

"That's a lie! I am nothing like you! I would never do what you did!" DJ rushed the ghost, somehow grabbing him by the collar and holding him above his head. His father seemed unimpressed by this and kept his cold stare.

"Like it or not, I am who you are becoming." His father continued. "It is your destiny."

DJ let go of him and fell to his knees, a strained look on his face. It was true, he was often afraid that he would become as his father was, that he would do what he did, he felt an unspeakable anger at times and had no idea why or where it came from. Even on the night he confronted his father he had attacked him relentlessly as the bastard had his mother, showing that he was capable of such an act.

"D-Damn you…" He sobbed quietly.

--

Jack burst into the front of the dojo. "Sir! Something terrible has happened! Karen's grandfather has reported she was abducted on her way here, I think it was the students from Bato's Dojo!"

Gin nodded curtly. "No doubt Kenichi-baka is at work again. He can't beat us so he's picking on a lady, what a coward. What should we do Sakata-sensei? We have to get her back!"

"I agree, but if anyone from this dojo goes to take her back, then we'd risk bringing Kenichi's connections with the government down not only on ourselves but on the innocent people of the entire island! Kenichi is so wrapped within the government he might even be able to convince them to Buster Call this place… those damn marines will do anything if they can justify it and the person has enough beli…" Sakata grit his teeth. "That's the worst case scenario, but even if it's not that kind of attack, if the World Government comes here to retaliate an attack on Bato's Dojo, then the lives of innocent people will be in danger!"

--

DJ growled, snapping his head up and glaring at his father, grabbing his pant leg. "NO!"

A small amount of surprise registered in the eyes of the ghost of his father. "What?"

"I am not like you! I am not because I chose not to be, no matter how angry I feel, or how desperate I become, I am nothing like you!" The boy snarled and stood. "I decide who I am, as Sakata-sensei said, the things I see are not written in stone, and I choose to erase the part of me that is like you. I will never be an abuser like you were, as Sirena said I can never forget my past and I will learn from it, but I am still putting it in the past, farewell!"

Duncan Jeffery Macleod Senior laughed softly as he began to fade away piece by piece like a fog being blown away by a newfound gust of wind. He smiled gently as he looked into his son's determined eyes. "That's my boy… good work son."

DJ hung his head silently as the second spirit disappeared. "Goodbye Father." His attention came after a moment to the final spirit, an animal-like creature walked from the shadows of his mind and spoke to him. "I am the spirit of your future." It emerged, revealing the form of a giant white fox.

"If you're my future… then how can you take a form? My memories have nothing from my future because it hasn't happened yet."

The fox chuckled. "Sometimes we know more about our futures than we think, it is our own hands that shape the future through our present actions after all." An image of two intersecting lines appeared on the fox's forehead. "Be careful of this cross, the point where dreams meet insanity, many have to go through it, the point where their dreams and their ambitions to conquer them drive them away from their friends and to near-insanity. I am sure you will meet people who will cross this line, remember never to cross into insanity yourself, remember well, Duncan Jeffery Macleod Junior. I expect great things from you." The fox began to fade into the darkness once again.

"Wait! Can you tell me more about my future? Like… who will I marry?"

The fox's laugh echoed. "Now where's the fun in giving away the ending? Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

--

Sakata, Gin, Jack, and an old man who was assumed to be Karen's grandfather sat around the meeting room of the dojo. The old man spoke up first. "I'll go, I'm not a member of the dojo and if I offer them my life in exchange for my debts, maybe they'll leave Karen and the Bladeless Dojo alone."

"Doubtful, those heartless jackasses would just kill you first, then her and then attack the dojo and let the rest of the island suffer under the World Government." Gin crossed his arms, his bokuto over his shoulder.

"Besides, the dojo would go under anyway without your funding." Jack pointed out.

"Agreed, we can't let you go sir." Sakata sighed calmly. "Such a cowardly move… but it is also hard to counter with so many factors and innocent people to get in the way."

"I can't take it! The only option that even has a slim chance is for me to give them my life!" Karen's Grandfather quickly stood up and opened the door to the dojo to go out, but was stopped by a new voice and a hand at his shoulder.

"No." DJ stared clear over the old man and out the door, freshly out of his meditative coma. "I'll go, if you give yourself up ossan, you won't be doing Karen-dono any favors. You'll have saved her life but to what kind of existence? She's already had to go through her parents death, and she's dealing with it very strongly, but don't make her go through that again sir, if you die then what will she have left of her family? Karen-dono is strong, but I don't think her heart can take another shock like that." He remembered the overwhelming pain he felt when he lost every member of his family.

"But DJ-chan, if any of the students from the dojo go, then the dojo will be held responsible and not only will we be attacked, then the whole town will be attacked by the World Government and innocent people will be killed!" Gin snapped at him.

"First, don't cal me DJ-chan, it sounds gay. Second, if a member of the dojo goes, then yes those things will happen, however if some renegade pirate goes and picks her up and trashes the place, then there's no way that they can blame the dojo, is there?"

Sakata raised an eyebrow, his eyes widening. "…What're you saying DJ-kun?"

"I'm saying I quit! I am no longer a member of the Bladeless Dojo!"

--

**Oooh, looks like some action next chapter, and some big revelations in this one, sorry if it was a little blah but I got lazy story-wise. So DJ has resigned from the Bladelss Dojo for the good of his friends, now what will he do on his assault of Bato's Dojo? Find out next time!**

**DJ: Let her go! **

**Gin: What is this feeling…**

**Sakata: I haven't seen this power in quite some time… it's quite rare…**

**Night of the Phantom's Cry**

**DJ: Never speak again! **


	5. Night of the Phantom's Cry

**Don't own One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin, Gintama or Samurai Jack**

**Night of the Phantom's Cry**

"Boss! Boss!" One of the students of Bato's Dojo rushed into the main room. "Some of the guys said they saw someone heading this way, really fast!"

A man with a long black poynytail, dressed in gray armor with a zanbatō on his back sat up from his drink and discussion and stared at the man who interrupted. "Is it one of those punks from the ball-less dojo?" He smirked, earning a laugh for his pun from a few of his peers.

"No, it's someone new, although some of the guys recognized him from around town, I have no clue where this guy is from, they think he's some kind of pirate come to raid us and get the girl we took back." The man looked panicked as he whiped his brow.

The man with the horse-slayer narrowed his eyes at the panicked man. "Why are you so nervous? Do you have that little faith in your own dojo?"

"No sir, it's just that…" He was cut off as the other man wrapped a firm hand around his neck, lifting him clear off his feet with the single hand.

"If you are not confident in your own dojo, if you cannot give it your unquestioning respect… THEN GET OUT!" He threw the man clear across the room and through the next wall, letting him skid just outside the dojo walls, groaning, bruised and unmoving. The man who had thrown him looked around the room as the other students watched him in a stunned silence. "Well!? What are you all looking at!? When this guy comes, we'll handle him and teach him not to mess with our dojo!"

An older man dressed in a black kimono decorated with dead branches entered slowly, most likely curious as to all the noise. "We might not even need to." He chuckled.

"K-Kenichi-sensei…" The man with the zanbatō bowed to the newcomer.

The old man grinned wickedly. "From what that man you took care of said, I'd say this person was either a government elite, or a person who has eaten of the devil's fruit. Since I doubt the World Government has betrayed us, I'd go with the latter. Since he has eaten of the fruit which the sea curses, he will be unable to cross the Do Jong river that separates our dojo and the Bladeless Dojo without a boat, and once he tries to enter a boat, it will be cut down by our river guardian." He smirked and watched as his students laughed as well.

"Yes sensei." The zanbatō-wielding man lowered his head.

"If he should somehow make his way here, then you have my permission to use ever student of the dojo to deal with him, show pirates and our rival dojo alike that we are not to be trifled with." Kenichi turned and went back to his room.

"It will be done, sensei." The other grinned.

--

DJ crossed the vast plain between the Bladeless Dojo and Bato's Dojo much more quickly than would normally be possible thanks to his super-speed, but his will to save someone close to him also urged him on further. _'Don't worry Karen-dono, I won't let you die! I promised that I would never let another person die because of my weakness as long as I could help them, and I intend to keep that promise!' _He thought to himself. He snapped out of his thoughts as he noted that he was heading to a stretch of water that appeared to be a river that lead right into the ocean. He knew this as the Do Jong river that went all the way across the island, normally he and Karen would ferry across it to get to town or go on errands on the other side of the island, but he didn't have that kind of luxury of time right now, so he urged his feet faster, increasing his speed and hoping to hit the water running.

"Haven't tried this trick yet… hope it works!" He muttered to himself as his feet hit the water, but because of the speed he was traveling at, he stayed on top of the water, not stopping for a second to sink.

"HALT! I am the river guardian of Bato's Dojo, Kawa Kouken!" A man stood on the other side of the river, a long spear-like sword in his arms.

"Sorry man, I can't stop now! I got places to go and people to see!" DJ grinned as he continued to run along the water, feeling himself sinking slowly. "Shit, this trick isn't going to last much longer, better hurry it up…" He said to himself, picking up his speed as he ran closer to the river guardian.

"I SAID STOP!" The man readied his sword and prepared to strike, thrusting it in DJ's direction as he approached.

"ROUGH DIVIDE!" DJ ran and jumped off the water just before he would have sunk, swinging his sword upward as he did, splitting the water and making a long column with the strike before falling down on his feet behind the river guardian, sighing. "I'm sorry, but like I said, I have more important things to do tonight." He whispered as a long red vertical cut appeared on the river guardian's torso from the uppercut attack.

"D-Damn you…" Kawa gasped before he fell over into the river, injured but still alive.

"Heh, if I had a hundred beli for every time I heard that…" DJ smirked and continued running across the plains, feeling the wind pick up.

--

"Bato-san! We have confirmation that the pirate has crossed the Do Jong!" One of the students shouted to the man with the zanbatō.

The man with the large sword growled and shouted. "Prepare every student and and arm everyone! We'll rip him apart as an example of those who oppose us!"

"Aye!" The other students nodded. One chuckling, "I feel sorry for this pirate, there are over one-hundred and fifty students currently employed here."

"Well then, that'll show him and any other pirates who dare try to cross us. That other dojo will fall tonight when we blackmail the old man with his grandaughter and force them to close down, then our control over the island will be absolute, and our alliance with the World Government will be strengthend." Another grinned.

--

"I issue a challenge!" DJ shouted, finding himself outside Bato's Dojo. He heard rustling inside and shouted louder. "I am issuing a challenge for the marquee of this dojo! Will you come out and face me, or are you cowards!?"

"That's a bold claim." The man with the zanbatō stepped out of the dojo, quickly followed by many other students until they formed a small army outside the dojo. "None of us at Bato's Dojo are cowards, allow me to introduce myself, I am Bato of the zanbatō, also known as the head student and namesake of Bato's Dojo! And you are?"

"Pissed off, I'm not here for formalities." DJ spat.

"I see, all you want is to challenge our marquee then?" Bato questioned, pulling his large zanbatō from his back and holding it one-haned out in front of him.

"Not only, but I figured while I'm here I might as well humiliate the cowards who are weak enough to shamelessly kidnap a woman by taking their symbol. The main reason I'm here is the woman you took earlier today, give her back! Give Karen-dono back!"

Bato laughed heartily at his claim. "I see, so you're coming to rescue the damsel eh? How pathetic, she's dead, we used her up then killed her." He laughed. "We were gonna let that old man pay us before telling him what we did and then killing him too!" The head student watched the pirate closely, spinning his heavy weapon in his hand.

"U-Used her?" DJ's eyes narrowed and he growled low in his throat. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" He roared.

"Oh, so you need a lesson little boy?" Bato laughed again, clearly enjoying egging the boy on. "It's one of the few things women are good for, she was really quite good at it, best I've had in a long time." He chuckled darkly to himself. "She broke mentally though, she wass quite weak."

DJ's hands shook as he clenched them till his knuckles turned white, his whole body shaking with rage as the wind continued to howl, sounding like a cry in the night. "You…"

Bato grinned, deciding to push the boy a little more before killing him. "That's right, and once she was all broken and useless, I ended her misery with this." He held up his zanbatō. "She was really pathe-"

"SHUT UP!" DJ roared, taking out his katana, the wind whipping through his hair. "Karen-dono is not weak! She braved the death of her parents and still dedicated her life to helping others, she was much stornger than you, than either of us!" He swung his sword, letting out an ear-piecrcing howl-like roar that seemed to boom across the entire island. The most surprising thing was that the wind that had blown violently until that moment seemed to stand still after the shout filled the air, a shockwave following it but a stillness coming soon after the noise.

"D-Did he just stop the wind… with a scream?" One of the students asked frightened.

"N-No, that's impossible… it's a coincidence…" Bato gripped his weapon tighter.

--

Gin blinked as he stood on top of the roof of the Bladless Dojo, surprised at what seemed to be going on. "What is this feeling I'm having… First a scream, then the wind mysteriously just stops like that… what the hell is he doing over there…?"

He heard the familiar clacking of Sakata's wooden sandals and turned around to see the dojo master standing behind him, looking in the same direction where the sound from before came from. "I haven't seen this power in a long time, it's quite rare. The air is entirely still, as if nature itself is silenced by the howl of determination that was let loose."

The bokuto user raised a brow to his sensei and looked outwards again. "What power Sakata-sensei?"

"Ki-hap…"

"Ki-hap?"

Sakata nodded. "It means a concentration of will, it's like a brother to the spiritual energy that I possess. While Spiritual Energy is concentrated in the eyes and an additional power based on prerequisites that one already has in strength and experience, Ki-hap by contrast is a supplementary power that amplifies what is given without adding anything special and is focused in the mouth."

"Huh?"

"Yelling makes him stronger."

"Ah, so his voice gives him super strength? That's fricken awesome Sakata-sensei." Gin laughed, watching the horizon still.

"Ki-hap is a very intriguing power, it gives super determination that cannot be learned nor can one be born with it, it just sort of… happens." Sakata continued his description. "The ability can subconciously allow the person to withstand inhuman amounts of pain and temporarily increase strength as long as the person is focused on a single goal, it's much harder to track than Spiritual Energy and doesn't really 'turn off' or 'turn on' but it is always there on some level and fluctuates, helping the user to gain strength and focus. But it's not without it's price."

"What's the price, sensei?" Gin asked, knowing almost nothing about the power he was talking about.

"Ki-hap takes all of the user's ki and transfers it into determination, meaning that all the kinds of ki for other uses would be inaccessible. In short, in exchange for this condition of super-determination, the user will never be able to use their ki as battle energy, or if they did it would be in very little amounts. This can be compensated for, but it's a kick in the shorts still." Sakata laughed softly. "DJ-kun won't be able to use his ki but he has gained something perhaps more valuable, a focus beyond that of normal humans and an ability to become stronger through failure and trail because of that, it's less flashy but quite admirable. Something must have happened in his past in order for him to subconsciously block off his ki and direct it towards one goal, I have a feeling the spiritual journey he just went on back here unlocked that dormant power from his determination. It rarely shows an outward appearance like the one of stopping the wind here, but like Spiritual Energy it does have a certain amount of effect on the outside world, although with more of an effect of defending the person and accomplishing their goals, forcing certain things to its will, such as the wind, but mostly it's just shown as a determination character trait. However, now that it's been unlocked on DJ-kun, I doubt I will be able to use my Spiritual Energy on him anymore, Ki-hap counters Haki very well because of the determination instilled of the user and the Ki-hap users can resist the use of Haki much better than most people and are less likely to fall under the influence of stronger Spiritual Energy. Many people who carry the letter D. in thier name use this power of Ki-hap on some level without knowing it, however with thier lineage they are able to use it without sacrificing thier battle ki."

Gin smirked and nodded. "Sounds like a good tool for him to be able to use."

Sakata nodded as well. "Yes, however in my opinion that's not the greatest attribute of his. Nor is his Devil Fruit. What surprises me is not the speed of his body, but the speed of his growth. He's learned things in days that took me weeks or even months to learn, that combined with his Ki-hap to make sure he never gives up on his training and trains extra hard… he could become an extremely powerful swordsman, greater than me even in a few years time. He's a rookie now but he has tremendous, almost scary potential power."

"How do you know so much about Ki-hap Sakata-sensei?" Gin yawned, already bored from his teacher's long speech.

"My own sensei from the New World, Mo Gong, had the power of Ki-hap and it ended up being his downfall." Sakata lowered his head. "He was so focused on protecting someone close to him, so determined to protect them because of that power, that he sacrificed his own life to ensure that that person would be safe…"

Gin looked at him for a second before nodding. "I understand Sakata-sensei, it's not your fault, at least his wish was fulfilled, you're still alive." The sugar-fiend smiled warmly.

"Yeah, come on, we've got something to do…" Sakata walked back downstairs.

--

DJ glared at Bato, still enraged from insults before. The latter looked frightened from the expression of power from the boy, but he still put on a sense of bravado. "That was quite a scream kid, reminds me of how that girl screamed…" He smirked. "Over and over again!" He laughed, watching DJ tighten his grip on his katana. "No sense in fighting over a dead useless woman, but if you want to take our marquee, then I suggest you come at me, that is if you can get through the rest of the students here!" He gestured to the crowd of people in front of him, all of who still looked unnerved.

"SHUT UP!" DJ disappeared from their sight, dashing through the crowd of students, moving too fast for them to even swing at him, eyes locked on the zanbatō user.

"That's it!" Bato gripped the handle of his weapon, swinging it as the speedy swordsman approached.

"NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!" DJ shouted, swinging his katana while passing harmlessly by Bato's zanbatō, standing behind him for a moment, suddenly calmer but no less fierece, cold eyes turned to the head student. "Someone with a slow heavy blade like that could never defeat me." He glared at the unmoving student.

"B-Bato-san, are you okay?" A nearby student asked, eyes wide.

Before anyone could say anything else, Bato's neck errupted in blood, the zanbatō wielder fell to his knees, eyes wide with surprise. He mouthed 'how?' but no sound came out other than the gurgling of his blood.

"I got tired of hearing his disgusting voice, so I cut his vocal cords." DJ stared coldly at him, his katana at his side, dripping with Bato's blood.

"B-Bato-san!" Another student called before Bato's head suddenly fell from his shoulders on it's own weight.

"I guess I cut too deep, not like he was thinking with that head to begin with." DJ stated cooly, scanning the frightened eyes of the rest of Bato's students.

"H-He killed Bato-san with one strike and didn't get a scratch on him!" One of the students shouted.

"Hey… we didn't touch the girl, the boss was just trying to piss you off, I swear! She's inside and unharmed, I promise!" Another student was cut of as a large gash appeared on his chest.

"You all have done something unforgiveable… I can't forgive any of you!" The speedy swordsman watched the student fall to the ground unmoving before speeding through the crowd again, swinging his sword and taking out person after person as soon as they grabbed their weapons. "I am not a coward like you, I will not attack an unarmed opponent, if you don't wish to die then lay down your weapons and…" He gasped, suddenly feeling weary as he cleared the other side of the crowd, ending where he started when he first arrived at the dojo, panting. "W-What's wrong with me… why did I do that just now… and why do I feel so worn out?" He panted.

"Swordsman!" An elderly voice called out, DJ turned to see an old man in a black kimono holding Karen with a katana at her throat. "You took out my best student and a handful of others, so how about I kill your little girlfriend here to make things even? One false move and she dies!"

"So you're Kenichi Suskohein, the dojo master for this dojo." DJ nodded, panting. The sudden burst of energy he had was gone and he felt exhausted, he couldn't get to Karen before Kenichi could kill her at the distance they were from each other, even with his speed.

"That's right, I am the dojo master. Now do the smart thing and lay down your sword…" Kenichi grinned, holding his weapon closer to Karen's neck, causing the girl to yelp lightly.

"Bato got what he deserved, I don't know where that power came from just now, but that focus was still against evil and trying to get Karen back. Fine… I surrender…" DJ knelt and stuck the tip of his sword into the ground, giving in to protect Karen.

"Send your sword over here." Kenichi commanded, watching DJ sheathe his katana and toss it away into the crowd. "Dumb move, now we can kill you and the girl!" He laughed wickedly, tightening his hold on Karen. Before he could do anything though, a cry went through the air.

"SUGAR RUSH SLAMMER!" A white blur sped through the crowd, hitting Kenichi square in the face and sending him flying into his own dojo. Next another blur came and struck the student holding DJ's katana, tossing it back to him, the two figures converged in front of DJ, weapons at the ready.

"What's wrong Macleod? Giving up already? You'll never become strong enough to fulfill that promise to your sister if you give up so easily." Gin grinned, holding Karen in one arm and his bokuto in the other.

Jack grinned, tightening his grip on his rectangular sword. "Sakata-sensei thought you might have trouble controlling that new power of yours, but luckily we're here now."

DJ's eyes widened. "Gin-sempai… Jack-sempai…"

The sound of wooden sandals clacking on dirt made DJ turn around to see Sakata standing behind him, hand on the sword at his hip. "Glad you're alright DJ-kun. Now… prepare to feel the wrath of the Bladeless Dojo you cowards!"

--

**Well there's that folks! Hope I explained my idea for Ki-hap sufficiently, basically it's a super determination that manifests itself outwardly in a shockwave-like scream at its peak but is always in effect and counters Haki because of the resistance of determination. But if anyone has any questions on it or anything else or wants to use it, just let me know! The name is taken from the word used for the "yell" that martial artists do to empty thier diaphragms and make thier attacks stronger, that's why I based the technique a defensive version of Haki centered in the mouth. Hope I didn't dig myself into a hole or anything, next time we get to see the Bladeless Dojo Samurai in action against the remaining students of Bato's Dojo, tune in!**

**Gin: How many do you think there are?**

**Karen: I'm not a damsel anymore… now I can fight!**

**DJ: Jack can fly!?**

**Sakata: It's time we settle this Kenichi…**

**DJ: So that's Sakata-sensei's sword…**

**Wrath of the Samurai**

**??: You've caused quite a mess here, old friend…**


	6. Wrath of the Samurai

**Don't own One Piece**

**Slight KH ref coming up .**

**Wrath of the Samurai**

DJ watched in awe as Jack and Gin stood in front of him, the latter setting Karen down on the ground and the former handing him his katana that he had dropped. "Psh, how pathetic can you get Macleod? Being forced into a hostage situation by these guys?" Gin laughed and scanned the crowd as Sakata quietly walked next to DJ as the young swordsman stood up and brushed himself off, reattaching his katana to his back.

The speedy swordsman was shaking slightly. "Sakata-sensei… Jack-sempai… Gin-sempai… you came…" He stared at them, his eyes wide.

Gin laughed. "What a dumb thing to say, of course we did."

"A back is bare without a brother behind it." Jack smiled, holding his rectangular sword.

"Yeah, yeah, just let me know what you're doing back there, brother." Gin cracked.

Sakata stepped forward as well. "Whether you are a student of our dojo or not, you are our friend, and those who betray their friends are worse than scum."

"Hate to break up the man-fest, fellas." Karen interrupted. "But what about them!?" She pointed to the large crowd of armed students standing in front of them.

"Oh yeah… I sorta knocked out their leader, didn't I? They looked pissed…." Gin stared blankly.

"WELL DUH, JACKASS!" Karen and DJ facefaulted.

"How many do you think there are?" Gin turned to Jack, both their swords outstretched.

"DJ-kun took out about a dozen of them plus Bato, so I'd say there's a good 150 left…" Jack nodded. "Think you can handle that many?"

Gin smirked. "Gonna be tough if one more shows up."

"That will be the one I'll take care of then."

Gin put on a teasing face. "Oh? You're fighting too?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kenichi growled and whipped blood from his mouth from inside the dojo where Gin's attack had knocked him. "Damn lucky punk…" He spat, grabbing a Den Den Mushi from a nearby table. The old man in the dead plant kimono practically yelled into the speaker. "We're under attack! I want these people to be persecuted under the full extent of the government! 'Blind Bandit' Sakata and his group have attacked my dojo!"

A hesitant marine answered the call. "Y-Yes sir, we'll be right there Kenichi sir." He saluted.

"Private, it's a Den Den Mushi, he can't see you saluting." His superior behind him sighed.

"O-Oh, right, sorry sir."

----------------------------------------------------

"Sugar Rush Rampage!" Gin shouted as he dove in and out of crowds, swinging his bokuto madly and sending a good number of students flying into the air, bleeding and covered in bruises.

"Gin-sempai sure is tough…" DJ noted to Karen as he cut down a few opponents himself.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Karen smirked as she wrapped her whip that Jack had brought with them around a student's sword before yanking it out of his hands and knocking him down with another crack of the whip.

Another three katana collided with DJ's before he could answer, he pushed the students back and all four looked up as a large figure flew over them like a bird. DJ turned to see Jack standing behind them, cutting down another student before seemingly flying through the air. "Holy Shit! Jack can fly!?" He watched the white-clad samurai land again, fending off two more swords before taking them out.

"Nah, more like jump really good." Gin laughed from in front of him as he smacked another student upside the head and sent him flying across the battlefield.

"Don't you mean jump well?" DJ continued dueling against the three swordsmen from before, cutting into one and taking on the others with his speedy sword movements.

"That's what I said, jump good. You gots a problem wit the way I communicate?" Gin growled, ducking out of the way of another sword.

DJ sighed. "Never mind." He took down both opponents with a crafty cross slash. Once his field of vision was clear, he turned to see Jack 'jumping good' up and down out of the crowd, taking out at least one student every time he landed.

"Rosetta Whip!" Karen spun her whip above her head in a circle, the point attacking many students at once, most of which blocked the attack but good few went down for the count.

"Sugar Rush Tornado!" Gin did a similar move, spinning around while dashing forward, making himself look like a human twister, holding out his bokuto and tearing into the crowd of students in his path.

'They're all so strong…' DJ thought. 'And they're fighting for us all, why?' He pondered for a moment, smiling to himself as he blocked and dodged quite a few attacks. "I suppose I'm not the only one with a desire to protect loved ones… Speed Speed Cutter!" He dashed through his section of the crowd, taking out a good couple dozen students with a series of speedy cuts. "I won't let their efforts be in vain!" He shouted to the looming wave of his opponents.

"Hehe, you haven't moved since the battle started!"

"Is the great Sakata scared of us?"

"Bring it on you hermit wimp!"

Sakata laughed and shook his head to the good thirty students in front of him. "You are many but you're severely unskilled, Kenichi's corruption has affected his teaching skills."

"So you're not going to fight us you bastard!?" One of the students called out.

"I will fight, but none of you neophytes deserve the touch of my blade." He tapped his sword sheathe to his thigh, making a clanking sound as he drew the weapon.

"What? Not gonna touch us? This guy's not making any sense!"

He pulled out his sword, causing some to stare in awe and others to burst out laughing. DJ stared quietly. "So that's Sakata-sensei's sword…"

"Bwhahaha! The damn blade's backwards! How are you going to beat us with that thing!?" The students held their sides while holding up their swords, preparing to attack.

"Sakata-sensei's sakabato, The Blind Wolf." Jack commented, suspending his fight to watch his master in action.

"Prepare yourselves… Earth Dragon Strike!" Sakata struck at the ground, unearthing a large number of rocks and dirt with the force of his strike. The rocks hurtled forth to his opponents, burying them under the rubble as most lie bloody and unmoving, only the occasional moan let them know some were still alive.

Sakata sheathed his sword and sighed. "I warned you, don't worry, I think you'll live." He chuckled to the buried men and stepped calmly over them.

Gin laughed as he bonked another student over the head with his wooden sword. "Don't mess with Sakata-sensei or you end up hurt."

"Very well done Sakata-kun." Kenichi laughed as he stepped out of his damaged dojo, a small bandage on his forehead from where Gin had hit him earlier.

"It's time to settle this Kenichi…" Sakata's face became serious as he held the Blind Wolf out in front of him.

The few remaining of Kenichi's and Sakata's students stopped and stared as the wind began to start up again with the tension hanging in the air from the confronting masters.

"Come at me then, unless you're s-" Kenichi was cut of as his sword clashed with Sakata's. The two exchanged standard sword strikes at a blistering pace, hoping in and our of each other's range.

As DJ's speedy eyes kept watch on the two, he noticed the patterns of their kimono's fluttering forth. Sakata's pink and green flowers and vines, and Kenichi's black cloth dead trees and broken branches. It was like a poetic battle of epic proportions, life versus death, hate versus love.

As Sakata's strength managed to force Kenichi against the wooden wall of his dojo, the other slashed and ducked to avoid the maneuver, causing Sakata's sword to get stuck in the wood of the wall. The young sensei smirked, as if he had planned the whole thing.

"Wood Dragon Strike!" He swung his sword horizontally towards Kenichi, sending splinters of wood towards the master, attacking him with small sharp chunks of wood.

Kenichi growled at the small cuts on his face and arms from the wood while Sakata merely laughed it off, like he was playing a game. "Don't worry Ken-chan, they say a splinter's the worst kind of pain, so it won't get any worse."

"That's a paper cut dumbass!" The black-clad master swung and was blocked by his opponent.

"Is it?" Sakata laughed again. "I'm not very good with proverbs." He sidestepped, causing Kenichi to stumble slightly but quickly right himself as they exchanged strikes and brought each other to the pain part of the field again.

"You're right about one thing though, that's the last bit of pain I'll be feeling from you!" He held up his sword threateningly. "No more fooling around Sakata, let's end this now!"

"As you wish, but if we continue like this, I'm not sure I can ensure your safety, I hope you've made your peace." Sakata lowered his head, looking serious for the first time in the battle.

"Those who live by the sword must accept that they will die at any moment, isn't that right Sakata? I have no intention of leaving this world just yet, not while my sword still hungers for blood, it won't allow me to die until I've killed you!"

Sakata sighed. "If that's how you wish to be, I have no choice. Please forgive me, my friend." He took a dash towards his opponent for a final strike.

"SAKATA!!!" Kenichi ran towards him as well, sword held high and eyes thirsty for blood.

"Rei Giri!"

As the two passed each other, a shockwave blew through the crowd of students, leaving each one to stare in awe, wondering who would fall first.

After what seemed like forever, a stream of blood burst from Sakata's shoulder, while no mark seemed visible on Kenichi.

"He did it!" A student laughed.

"Yeah! Go Kenichi-sensei!" Another one cheered.

Gin smirked and shook his head, chuckling softly.

Kenichi turned to Sakata, grinning broadly at his apparent victory. "Well Sakata, what do you think now!?"

"You're weak…" He whispered.

"What was that!?"

"I gave you an opening so that you would strike at my vital area and leave your own open, an old samurai ditch effort, and yet all you gave me was this shallow cut." He grinned at the wound on his shoulder and across the top part of his chest.

Gin's chuckle turned into uproarious laughter as he watched the two. "Sakata-sensei's secret technique, the Rei Giri, or Spirit Strike."

"But there's not a mark on m-!" Kenichi was cut off as he coughed up a load of blood. He doubled over, holding his chest.

"Take a good look at my sword, Ken-chan." He held up the Blind Wolf. "This can't cut the skin at all. The reason they call my sword the Blind Wolf and me the Blind Bandit is because all of my wounds are invisible." He grinned devilishly to his incapacitated opponent.

"D-Damn you…" Kenichi spat up more blood before collapsing on the ground in a pool of his own regurgitated fluids, quiet and unmoving.

"Uh… what the hell just happened?" Karen and DJ blinked, both very confused.

"Sakata-sensei's Rei Giri uses his sword's flat edge to displace air and create a 'spirit blade' that goes right through the skin without a mark, and cuts internally, severing organs, damaging lungs, and whathaveyou. The person looks fine, but while they think they've won, they're bleeding to death on the inside. They're dead within a minute as soon as that attack hits. As soon as Sakata-sensei got Kenichi to open up his vital area, he won." Gin explained.

As the others were focused on the battle, the rest of Kenichi's students had run away from the battle after seeing their sensei collapse. "How shameful…" Sakata turned to the students, who were escaping on a large ship in a hurry and already beginning to set sail.

"You turn tail and run away from your sensei, don't even bother to collect his remains, even though he was a lousy teacher, I can't forgive such behavior, and I can't let you get away, though I pray you survive. Rei Funegiri! (Spirit Shipcutter)" He swung his sword up, letting out a large arc of translucent energy that could only be assumed to be the 'spirit blade' Gin was talking about earlier. The blade cut through the ship, severing it nearly perfectly in half. Some of the students survived and swam as far away from the shore as they could get, tail between their legs in fear of the master, some weren't so lucky.

"Well then, now that that's taken care of…" Sakata sheathed his blade quietly and picked up Kenichi's body, placing it in the hole from his the earlier Earth Dragon Strike. "Now to deal with our new visitors."

"What are you talking about sensei?" The students turned around to see a marine ship behind them on the opposite side of the shore, with two men standing at the front of a crowd of gathering marines.

One was a calm-faced man with blue eyes and dark black hair that was messy in the front. The other had a similar calm face, but had red eyes instead that carried a look of madness with them. The former spoke in an ice-like tone.

"You've created quite a mess here, my old friend…"

-------------------------------------------------------------

**DJP: Crap… out of the frying pan and into the fire I suppose. Sorry if the battle wasn't as long or intense as expected, but it's mostly a character building fic. Anyway, only one chapter left now till the end of the fic, how will all of this wrap up? Dun Dun… DUN!!! –dramatic chipmunk- **

**DJ: Who are these guys? **

**Sakata: It's been a long time, Captain**

**???: Don't you find it strange that marines would attack a no-name island looking for a Yonkou? Something else is going on here… **

**DJ: I'm not going to lose everyone again! Things are different this time, I'm different!**

**Epilogue: Invaders from Devil's Nest**

**???: That boy's grown up in an interesting way… **


	7. Invaders from Devil's Nest

**Don't Own One Piece**

**Epilogue: Invaders from Devil's Nest **

The Bladeless Samurai and their allies watched in horror as they saw the marine ship that docked on the shore. Sakata gave a small smirk as he nodded to the blue-eyed man who had addressed him as a friend earlier. "It's been a long time, Captain."

"I see you're as deadly as ever." The man looked with an emotionless face to the ditch Sakata had placed Kenichi's body into. "He was a fool but he was still an ally of the World Government, I'm afraid I'll have to take you in."

"The hell you will!"

"DJ! Shut up!" Gin covered the speedy swordsman's mouth. "Do you have any idea who they are?" A muffled 'no' came out from behind Gin's hand and the white-haired swordsman shook his head.

"That's Captain Damien Kiosuke, and Lieutenant Cain Dias. They're the commanding officers of Marine Base #216 of the Grand Line, otherwise known as Devil's Nest."

"Devil's Nest? In the Grand Line… they must be really strong then…" DJ blinked as he stared at the two. "Who are these guys and what are they doing here then?"

"Well they're probably pissed about the mess we caused. Kenichi had a lot of dealings with the World Government for crooked money deals, if you remember." Karen interjected.

"That's right" The red-eyed man, Cain said in a singsong voice and smiled wickedly, his mad eyes half open. DJ noticed for the first time he had a slightly curved blade at his hip. "We'll take you in and burn the whole damn town to the ground for what you've done, give you something to think about on the gallows." He laughed manically.

"You will not!" Before anyone could say anything, Jack took one of his unusually high leaps into the air, diving on Cain. The madman smirked and drew his sword.

"Jack, no!" Sakata tried to stop him but it was too late.

"**Tres Puntos**." In a flash, Jack fell over with three bloody puncture wounds on his chest. The swordsman writhed in pain on the ground, glaring at his attacker, who stared back with murderous intent.

"Be careful Cain, I want to take them alive if possible." Damien said coolly, apparently unphased by the whole incident.

"Sure thing boss." Cain smirked and sheathed his bloody sword.

Gin growled, having lost his cool demeanor from before. He clutched his bokuto so hard his knuckles turned white. "Damn you!"

"Gin!"

He dashed towards Damien with superhuman speed and was in front of him in seconds. "Sugar Rush Slammer!"

"**Mira Tate**" Damien held his hand out in front of him and to the awe of DJ, Karen, Gin, and Jack, a thick wall of glass came between Gin and Damien. "Your attack is strong…" The latter said calmly. "But my mirror shield reflects the strength of whatever strikes it, negating your strength."

"What the hell is he?" Karen stared wide-eyed at the Marine Captain.

"Damien Kiosuke ate the Mira Mira no mi. The Devil Fruit allows him to conjure mirrors on any surface he touches, even out of thin air. Gin, get out of there!"

"Too late." Damien narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly. "Shatter…" As if responding to the command, the mirror between Damien and Gin broke apart, sending shards of glass projecting out towards the white-haired swordsman.

Blood erupted from the young man's body as he fell over, covered in cuts from the shards of glass. He coughed up blood and moaned in pain, barely squirming through the intense pain.

The shards of glass fluttered around Damien in a circle, like a small snow flurry, reflecting the moonlight and sparkling slightly. "The Mira Mira no mi allows me to conjure mirrors and control them. I can even control the shards of glass that a broken mirror creates. It's like having a thousand blades under my control, each as small as a snowflake." The Captain still seemed totally aloof, as if he hadn't even been attacked just now. "The shards are so small and sharp they can even cut through solid stone."

Cain laughed. "There's a reason why they say breaking a mirror's seven year's bad luck ya know."

Sakata sighed at having lost his two best students to their own hastiness. "Damien, I want to make a deal with you."

"Huh? Why would we do that sorta thing?" Cain grinned wickedly. "You ain't exactly in a deal-making position."

"You know if we fought here I could still give you a lot of trouble, as well as take out a good amount of your marines. If I make a deal with you to go peacefully, you keep your men and get the reputation of capturing me without casualty."

"I'm listening…" Damien nodded coolly. "Continue."

"I'll give myself up freely, no struggle, and no struggle from any of my students either, but you leave the townspeople and anyone who's not my student alone. There really isn't much reason for you to burn down the city anyway. This way there will be one more town living in fear of the World Government that you won't have to govern directly and you'll get off even better without having to fight me." Sakata finished, staring down his partner in this strange negotiation situation.

Damien seemed to mull this over for a moment, still keeping his emotionless face. "Fine, you have a deal."

"What!? Sakata-sensei, no!" DJ stared at his teacher. "You can't do this!"

"Shut up you." Sakata walked over to Damien coolly. "I don't know who you think you are, ordering me around like that."

"H-Huh? B-But Sakata-sensei…" DJ stared at him in shock.

Cain signaled the marines to take Jack and Gin away, but the latter showed the ability to still stand on his own and walked over to stand by his sensei. "What about him boss? He's calling him sensei, guess he's a student too." He laughed.

Sakata scoffed. "He's no student of mine, he's just some pirate that showed up out of the blue a few days ago. I don't even know him."

DJ's eyes widened, he looked on the verge of tears. "But why… Sakata-sensei?"

"Board the prisoners on the ship." Damien ordered calmly.

"NO!" DJ blinked, tears sprinkling into the air as he dashed forwards towards Damien. "I'm not going to lose everybody again. Things are different then they were before, I'm different!"

He was stopped as a fist collided with his face. He turned to the source, expecting a marine to be standing there but instead found the heavily wounded Gin, panting and barely standing, but ready to fight DJ to keep him from the man. "G-Gin-sempai…"

"You idiot, I don't know what you think you're doing, but get the hell out of here, this is dojo business! Leave us alone you jackass pirate!"

DJ blinked, eyes widening again. "You too Gin-sempai?" He wondered why everyone was suddenly forsaking him even though they had done so much to come and save him from Bato's Dojo.

"Stop talking like you know me!" Gin slugged him hard in the face, sending DJ back a few steps. He punched him in the gut again and again, brawling it out with his former friend.

"Damnit Gin!" DJ tackled the white-haired swordsman, returning the punches as their fight turned into a childish fistfight.

"Alright, get them off each other." Cain sighed as one of the marines dragged DJ off Gin and began to drag Gin to the ship. "It's clear you're not friends, so we'll just take whitey here."

DJ blinked, tears welling up in his eyes again as he stood up off the ground. "D-Did he goad me into hitting him…?" He saw a smirk on Gin's face as the marines drug him away.

"He did try to attack you though boss." Cain added. "Should we take him in anyway?"

"You can't." Sakata pointed out. "I said you can only take me and my students without a fight, you said yourself it's clear this boy has no good relations with us. So therefore he's not involved."

Damien laughed softly and shook his head. "That's true… leave him."

Sakata began to walk towards the marine ship, passing DJ and whispering a few final words before stepping off. "Parting with a friend is not the same as losing them. Your dream lies on a different path than ours, but I'm sure we'll meet again." He too boarded the marine ship and disappeared from DJ's sight until it was only him, Karen, and the marines left.

DJ blinked, tears running down his face. They had denied their friendship in public to protect him from being captured with them so he could be free to live out his dream. As soon as Sakata had made that deal with Damien, Gin must have caught on to what he meant, he not only protected the villagers, but DJ and Karen as well.

Damien turned to DJ. "You're an odd one pirate, crying for strangers." He smirked, he obviously knew he had been tricked but allowed it anyway. "You have better friends than you deserve, hopefully we won't see each other again, or next time I will take you in." He boarded his ship, followed by Cain and the others. As the door closed and the ship began to take off, Cain gave an odd, fox-like smile and a wave to the two. "Bye-bye~!" He laughed as the shipload of their friends left the horizon.

---------------------------------------

As Damien and Cain stood on the deck of their ship, _The Absolution_, Damien chuckled at the events that just took place. "Tell me Cain, did that boy look familiar to you?"

"Not in particular, why boss? Ya know him from somewhere?"

"Not personally. But a few years back, there were reports of an attack on a generally unknown island, there was only one casualty reported and a failed attack on the marines. The campaign there was looking for a specific target, a very odd target."

"What was their target boss?"

"Red-Haired Shanks, the Yonkou."

"Wow, talk about going after big fish, what kind of right-minded marine troop would actually go looking for a guy like that on their own?"

"That's my point." Damien nodded. "Don't you find it strange that marines would attack a no-name island looking for a Yonkou? Something else is going on here…"

"What's going on?"

"There are few people I know who could go after a Yonkou without attracting too much attention to themselves. Someone would have to be insanely strong and secretive in order to even think about going against him and living. If my hunch is right, that boy we saw back there may know something about this secret, which makes him a valuable player to us."

"Meh, whatever, I'd rather just take care of the prisoners we have now." Cain shrugged and began to walk below decks.

"Indeed, either way it's really none of our business. Although I'd like to see how this plays out." He looked back to the direction of the shore they had left. "That boy has grown up in an interesting way…"

-------------------------------------------------

The next morning DJ prepared to set out as soon as the sun rose, Karen and her grandfather came to see him off after the difficult time he had because of them last night.

"You don't have to go you know." Karen sighed. "You can stay here, with us."

DJ gave a soft nod, keeping a straight face. "I know, but I have to. Sakata-sensei said my dream lies on a different path. They say life has an infinite amount of possibilities. I think that's a lot of bull. I think that sometimes there are very few paths to choose and sometimes there are more. That's why I always value the path I choose. Because I took the path that HAD to be taken." He walked over to the two and thanked them for all that they had done.

"I want you to stay here and show this town that there is still something worth hoping for, that there are dreams out there despite what the government would have everyone believe. I want you to stand on your own feet and make your own dreams come true." He gave Karen a light kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye…" A slight wind blew and he disappeared.

----------------------------------------------------------

Later, the members of the Bladeless Dojo were taken to a marine base, for some reason Captain Kiosuke decided not to send them to Marine Base #216 and left them in the care of another officer. "Sir! One of the prisoners has broken out of his cell! He's acting crazy!" One of the marines called out to his commanding officer.

Gin rounded the corner, grinning devilishly. "Come on out you bastards!" He swung around a piece of broken banister around like a bokuto. "I got plenty of punishment for the lot of you!"

------------------------------------------------------------

Even later, as a large amount of marines lay broken and knocked out on the floor of the base, the newly freed Sakata, Gin, and Jack sat on board the deck of a stolen marine vessel. "Well, what do we do now Sakata-sensei?" Jack asked his teacher, who was sitting in a meditation position, contemplating their next move now that they had escaped from a marine prison and were probably wanted by the World Government.

_"I have a dream that I am very determined to accomplish, I promised my sister's spirit that I would become strong enough to protect those I care about, help those that needed my help, and inspire others to follow their dreams. I will make this dream into a reality, no matter what it takes…"_

_"I may not be an 'official' pirate, and certainly not captain material, but I do consider myself a pirate in spirit. Just a guy trying to make my way in the world."_

"Gin, Jack… let's become pirates. The government already wants us, and we have dreams we wish to accomplish. What do you say? Will you be pirates under me?" He stood and turned around, smiling to his students.

"I would be honored to call you my captain Sakata-sensei…"

"I will follow where you lead…"

"Excellent! From this moment on, we are the Bladeless Pirates!"

----------------------------------

A few weeks later, bounty posters were released to the public, along with a few new faces among them.

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE**

**"White Devil Gin"**

**Reward: 31,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE**

**"Flying Marauder Jack"**

**Reward: 15,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE**

**"Blind Bandit Sakata" **

**Reward: (Huh? Seems to be a smudge here… damn Marine printers)**

-----------------------------------------

In the present time, aboard the Axe-Head ship, DJ reflected fondly on the memories of his friends' sacrifice for him. He knew they were out there somewhere now, with bounties and adventures of their own, and he hoped he would see them again someday soon. He saw it was morning now and people were beginning to wake up. Dusty, as usual was one of the last to wake up and a few of the other nakama realized that she wasn't in her own bed and was in DJ's. Of course Azu was the one to point this out most loudly.

"Dude! You're telling me there's a girl in your bed and you didn't even do anything?"

"Nope…"

"What kind of guy are you!?"

"Thank you!" Devon exasperated.

"Breakfast! Breakfast! Breakfast!" Axe rushed past.

DJ sighed and shook his head, chuckling softly. "Past or present, it's a long, strange trip"

--------------------------------------

**Tres Puntos: Spanish for "Three Points" Cain stabs his opponent three times in the blink of an eye.**

**Mira Tate: Japanese for Mirror Shield, Spanish for "Watch! Look out!" Damien constructs a mirror in the space in front of him to block an attack. The nature of the mirror reflects whatever's on the other side of it and can negate attacks up to a certain extreme amount of strength. **

**Hope you enjoyed this fic! Just a little bit of insight into DJ's past and how it shapes his present, and possibly future. Strange hidden powers, secret government conspiracies, friends reunited, the story isn't over yet! Check out kilnorc's Crew of the Axe fics for the continuing story! **


End file.
